Paul Winchell (born Paul Wilchinsky; December 21, 1922, New York City, New York, USA – June 24, 2005, Los Angeles, California, USA) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, humanitarian, and inventor whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. From 1950 to 1954, he hosted The Paul Winchell Show, which also used two other titles during its prime time run on NBC, The Speidel Show, and What's My Name?. From 1965–1968, Winchell hosted the children's television series, Winchell-Mahoney Time.
Winchell made guest appearances on Emmy Award-winning television series from the late 1950s to the mid 1970s, such as Perry Mason, The Dick Van Dyke Show, McMillan & Wife, The Donna Reed Show, and two appearances as Homer Winch on The Beverly Hillbillies in 1962. In animation, he was the original voice of Tigger, Dick Dastardly, Gargamel, and other characters.
Winchell, who had medical training, was also an inventor, becoming the first person to build and patent a mechanical artificial heart, implantable in the chest cavity (US Patent #3097366). He has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television.
Winchell's career after 1968 included various voice roles for animated television series. For Hanna-Barbera, he played the character Dick Dastardly in multiple series (including Wacky Races and Dastardly and Muttley in their Flying Machines); Clyde and Softy on Wacky Races and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop; and Fleegle on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour, and Gargamel on The Smurfs.
Winchell voiced Tigger in Disney's Winnie-the-Pooh featurettes, and won a Grammy Award for his performance in Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too.
Beginning with the television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, he alternated in the role with Jim Cummings, the current voice of Pooh. Winchell's final performances as Tigger were in 1999 for Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction at Walt Disney World. Following his retirement, Cummings permanently took over the role of Tigger starting with Sing a Song with Pooh Bear in 1999 (though some of Winchell's vocals from previous Pooh animations were included). Other Disney roles included parts in The Aristocats as a Siamese cat named Shun Gon, and The Fox and the Hound as Boomer the woodpecker. He was also the original voice of Zummi Gummi on the TV series Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears for seasons 1–5; Jim Cummings took over for the final season in 1990.
From 1981–89, Winchell voiced Gargamel on The Smurfs as well as on several Smurfs television movies. During the 1980s, he was called upon by Hanna-Barbera to reprise his role of Dick Dastardly on Yogi's Treasure Hunt (which was a tour-de-force featuring all of the H-B characters) and later on Wake, Rattle and Roll (which was a Wacky Races spin-off). Also on the animated movie Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, he did the voice of the Dread Baron, who was previously voiced by John Stephenson on the Laugh-a-Lympics.
| Year | Image | Character | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 
|
Tigger | Winnie the Pooh & Christmas Too |
| 1985-1990 | 
|
Zummi Gummi | Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears |
| 1988-1989 | 
|
Tigger | The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh |
| 1981-1989 | 
|
Gargamel | The Smurfs |
| 1982 | 
|
Gargamel | The Smurfs' Christmas Special |
| 1981-1982 | 
|
Mayor Lumpkin | Trollkins |
| 1981-1982 | 
|
Marmaduke | Heathcliff and Marmaduke |
| 1981-1982 | 
|
Phil Winslow | Heathcliff and Marmaduke |
| 1981 | 
|
Boomer | The Fox and the Hound |
| 1977-1978 | 
|
Moe | The Skatebirds |
| 1977 | 
|
Tigger | The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh |
| 1972 | 
|
Goober the Dog | A Christmas Story |
| 1972 | 
|
Sleezer | A Christmas Story |
| 1972 | 
|
Runto | A Christmas Story |
| 1970 | 
|
Shun Gon | The AristoCats |
| 1966-1968 | 
|
Space Bird Creator | Space Ghost and Dino Boy |